Under Amazon's new program, a patent owner who believes infringing products are listed on Amazon.com requests an evaluation. Amazon selects a neutral evaluator to decide whether the patent covers the identified products. Each side submits written arguments. If the products are found to infringe, they are removed from Amazon.com; if not, they are not removed. In either case, the loser pays $4,000—the cost of the evaluation. The entire process takes approximately four months.

This streamlined process is won by nimble lawyering. A patent owner prepares initial arguments (i.e. infringement contentions) against the accused product. A defendant files a fifteen-page response. The patent owner may also submit a reply. Whomever makes the best case, wins.

Pierce Bainbridge has the knowledge, the experience, and the cost-effectiveness to win for both plaintiffs and defendants in Amazon's new Utility Patent Neutral Evaluation process. Explained Pierce Bainbridge Intellectual Property Group Co-Chair David Hecht: "With new technology comes new legal problems—but also new legal solutions. And no firm is better-suited to fight for clients in the new legal world than Pierce Bainbridge. We stand ready to represent both patent owners and accused sellers in the new Amazon Utility Patent Neutral Evaluation process."